The 2020 Chinese Professional Baseball League season was the 31st season of the

Chinese Professional Baseball League The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL; ) is the top-tier professional baseball league in Taiwan. The league was established in 1989 and played the first season in 1990. CPBL eventually absorbed the competing Taiwan Major League in 20 ...

(CPBL). The season was scheduled to begin on 14 March, earlier than previous seasons in order to free up time for the CPBL players to participate in the

final qualifying tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, opening day was delayed. On 1 April, the CPBL announced that the season would begin on 11 April with the rematch of last season's Taiwan Series teams: the champions

Rakuten Monkeys The Rakuten Monkeys (), formerly First Financial Holdings Agan (, abbreviated ), La New Bears () and then the Lamigo Monkeys (), are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. Owned and administer ...

hosting the

CTBC Brothers The CTBC Brothers () or simply Brothers are a professional baseball team in Taiwan. The team was originally established as an amateur team in 1984 by the Brother Hotel located in Taipei City, and later joined the Chinese Professional Baseball Leagu ...

, but behind closed doors with no fans attending. Due to inclement weather, game #1 and #2 hosted by Monkeys were postponed. This led to game #3, the

hosting the

Uni-President Lions The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions, stylized as Uni-President 7-ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇn Lions, also known as Uni-Lions (), are a professional baseball team playing in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). The Lions are based in Tainan City, Ta ...

on April 12 at

Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium () is a stadium in Beitun District, Taichung, Taiwan. The stadium officially opened on November 9, 2006, replacing the antiquated Taichung Baseball Field. Located on the corner of Chongde Road (崇德� ...

, becoming the first game of the season to play to completion. On May 8, a maximum of 1,000 fans were permitted to attend games. Restrictions were further relaxed on June 5: as long as there was one-seat spacing between spectators, attendance number was no longer restricted, and masks were no longer required while seated; food prepared on-site was again allowed. The CPBL received international coverage because other major baseball leagues such as

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

were still severely impacted by the virus outbreak and unable to confirm the dates of their respective season openings. The first-ever English broadcast of CPBL games also attracted international attention. The annual

CPBL All-Star Game The CPBL All-Star Game (), alternatively known as Red v. White All-Star Game (), is an annual baseball game held by the Chinese Professional Baseball League of Taiwan. The teams are organized along the geographic dispositions of the member organiz ...

was cancelled for the first time to accommodate to the compact schedule. The season concluded on 8 November with the Uni-President Lions winning the seasonal championship, by defeating the CTBC Brothers in Game 7 of the

Taiwan Series Taiwan Series () is the championship series of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). It is usually played in late October or early November, after the regular season. It was formerly known as the ''CPBL Seasonal Championship Series'' () ...

with a score of 7:4.

Competition

Four teams, the

Fubon Guardians The Fubon Guardians () are a professional baseball team in the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in Taiwan. The team is owned by Fubon Financial Holding Co. and play their home games at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium in New Taipei City. ...

, and

will contest the CPBL, the highest level of professional baseball played in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. The season is divided into two halves, with each team playing 60 games in each half. The winners for each half-season plus the non-winner with the best overall record will qualify for the playoffs. In the event that the same team wins both halves, the next 2 teams with the best overall records will advance. In May 2019, commissioner John Wu announced that the CPBL had reached an agreement with

Ting Hsin International Group Ting Hsin International Group () is a Taiwanese-owned corporate group established in 1958. It owns various food brands such as the instant noodle maker Master Kong, Wei-Chuan Food Corporation and Dicos. History Taipei 101 and noodles The compa ...

, largest and managing shareholder of

Wei Chuan Foods Corporation Wei Chuan Foods () is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of Chinese condiments, canned goods, drinks, and frozen goods. Its more popular, widely recognized products include canned pickles, soy sauce and oyster sauces, and frozen dumplings and wontons ...

, to reactivate

Wei Chuan Dragons The Wei Chuan Dragons () are a professional baseball team in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) that originally existed between 1990 and 1999. In 2019, negotiations regarding the franchise's revival and return to the CPBL took ...

. The Dragons would participate in the minor league during 2020 season and expected to return to the major league in 2021. During first-half season, it was discovered that the

coefficient of restitution The coefficient of restitution (COR, also denoted by ''e''), is the ratio of the final to initial relative speed between two objects after they collide. It normally ranges from 0 to 1 where 1 would be a perfectly elastic collision. A perfectl ...

(COR) of the official game baseball had an average of 0.573 between two tests, above the 0.550~0.570 target only below the 0.540~0.580 rejection limit, resulting in faster ball-batted speed and high homerun production. After the May General Managers meeting, the League decided to tighten quality control of the official game baseball, with COR of 0.560 as the target. On the test conducted in July, the COR was 0.563, meeting the new requirements. This had resulted in less offense-centric and more balanced games in the second-half season.

Broadcast rights

Following a dispute between the CPBL and

MP & Silva MP & Silva Limited was an international sports marketing and media rights firm based in London. Founded in 2004 by Italian businessmen Riccardo Silva and Andrea Radrizzani, the company was primarily involved in the acquisition and international ...

during the , broadcast rights to CPBL games were acquired over the intervening seasons by

Eleven Sports Eleven Sports is a multinational sports and entertainment media group. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, it is owned by Andrea Radrizzani's sports and media investment platform Aser Ventures. Eleven Sports' business model initially centred a ...

, , , and

Videoland Television Network Videoland Television Network () is a cable television network program provider in Taiwan, founded in 1983 by Koos Group. Videoland is one of Taiwan's major satellite television providers, offering seven channels of programming. Videoland is also s ...

. English-language broadcasts were added on a trial basis and streamed via the

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account of Eleven Sports Taiwan. A number of international fans tuned in, and all CPBL teams subsequently announced that they would feature English commentary.

Standings

First half standings

The

claimed the first half Championship on July 14, by defeating

with a score of 6:1 in the resumption of game #62, which was suspended on May 26 at top of third inning with a score of 1:0 due to rain.

Second half standings

The

clinched the second-half Championship on October 24 at the last regular season game, by defeating

with the score of 3:2 in the resumption of game #193. Game #193, hosted by Lions at their homefield

Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium The Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium () is a baseball stadium in South District, Tainan, Taiwan. Situated in the South District, it is currently used mostly for professional baseball games, and has been the home stadium of Uni-President Lions ...

, was suspended on September 12 at the top of Third inning after one out due to rain, with the score tied at 1:1. This was Lions' first half-season Championship since the 2013 second-half Championship.

Final season standings

*Green denotes first-half or second-half champion. *Bold denotes clinching playoff qualification as the wild card.

Statistical leaders

Hitting

Pitching

Playoffs

Because the first-half and second-half championships were won by different teams, the 2020 Taiwan Series, a best of seven series, was played. The first-half champions, the

, faced the second-half champions, the

, with the first game scheduled on October 31 and the seventh game on November 8. The Brothers, by having a better yearly record, earned home field advantage, hosting games 1, 2, 6, and 7 at their home field,

. The Lions hosted games 3, 4, and 5 at their home field,

. The two teams last faced off at a playoff series in the 2009 Taiwan Series.

Rules

All regular season rules apply with the following exceptions: * Each team is allowed to register 28 players on its active roster. * No tied games. * Two outfield umpires are added to the games.

Summary

Game summaries

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Down 1-3 in the series, Uni-Lions' starting pitcher Brock Dykxhoorn pitched a complete-game shut-out using 126 pitches. Coupling with timely hits from the bottom-half of the batting order, the Uni-Lions defeated the Brothers with a score of 6:0 in the final home game of the season and forced the series back to Taichung.

Game 6

Game 7

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020 Chinese Professional Baseball League Season Chinese Professional Baseball League season CPBL season Chinese Professional Baseball League seasons Baseball events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic